


A Girl and Her Wolf

by siren_world



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Childhood Friends, Developing Friendships, Five Years Early, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Master Sword (Legend of Zelda), Not Anymore, Oneshot?, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Twilight (Legend of Zelda) - Freeform, Two Kids Alone in the World, Wolf Link (Legend of Zelda), at first, do not copy to another site, midna and link take on the world only they're still kids, midna is sassy, the light spirits are still useless
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:26:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26438665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siren_world/pseuds/siren_world
Summary: Midna is fifteen years old when she is chosen as heir, Zant takes control of the Twilight Realm, and she is sent away to a strange world of light that is covered in shadows.Midna is fifteen years old when she vows to destroy Zant, gather the Fused Shadows, and take back her realm.Midna is fifteen years old when she meets a frightened wolfboy hiding in a forest.And now they were stuck together. And neither of them knew where they are going or what they are doing.(Or the TP AU that no one asked for, where Midna is confirmed heir five years earlier than in canon, and Ganondorf and Zant respond accordingly.)!! [Edit: 3/1/21 -- This story is sort of on hiatus until I get my shiz together. Gonna try to get a consistent update schedule going for this. Hopefully, I'll have another chapter before the end of the month.] !!
Relationships: Fi & Link (Legend of Zelda), Ilia & Link (Legend of Zelda), Link & Midna (Legend of Zelda), Link & Ordon Villagers (Legend of Zelda), Link & Rusl (Legend of Zelda), Midna & Ilia, Midna & Ordon Villagers, Midna & Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 37





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! Another story!
> 
> I don't know if I'll continue this yet, or if it will stay a oneshot, but hopefully I'll be inspired. Either way, I'm excited!
> 
> This has been on the brain for a long while. Ever since I read a Wind Waker AU where Link wakes up seven years after pulling the Master Sword. I was like okay, WW with Adult Link in the future, but what if TP with Child Link in the past? Boom! Idea! If it continues, it won't be Child Link and Midna forever, though. They'll have to grow up sometime to face Zant and Ganon. Plus, I like the idea of them growing a strong bond over several years.
> 
> Anyway, hope you like!

“I hate this,” Midna grumbled, throwing a small rock at the nearest tree. “I’m a _princess_. I shouldn’t be out here in the woods, fending for myself.”

She remembered that squirrel she’d tried to hunt. Key word being _tried_. A stupid animal had even been able to outsmart her.

“I’ll get you for this, Zant!” Magic crackled between her fingers in her anger. She was so _pissed_.

She had been so stupid. It was stupid to go after someone whose current power level she knew nothing about, but she had been arrogant because it was _Zant and she was _the Goddess-damned Twilight Princess_. He should have been far beneath her, even if he was noble born._

__

__

It had happened just days after her father had announced her as the heir. She remembered that Zant had been furious.

The _curse_. And no, not that stupid one that was on her right now – _even though Goddesses she was so ugly she wanted to rip her hair out and scream_ – but the one that Zant had subjugated their entire people with. Large, oily, black-skinned monstrosities with strange flat faces and tentacles – she shivered; they were a sorry sight.

And she thought she would be able to help them. It was her duty, after all, as the next in line (What, did Zant actually think he had had a chance? Greedy bastard.) for the throne. So, she’d marched up confidently to the palace balcony where she’d heard the perpetrator was currently going after the Royal Family’s inner circle.

She had been shocked to see Zant of all people. Turning her father into a monster of all things.

Now, she _might_ have rushed in there a little quickly, but what was she supposed to do; he was assaulting her father – _the King_. So, she could obviously be forgiven for her rash actions, right?

And then Zant had finished cursing her father and had turned to her, wearing a ridiculous looking mask on his head.

 _“My princess,”_ he had said to her, in a tone different than she was used to – she was used to him using that slimy ass-kissing tone, not this arrogant, victorious one. _“Your family has let our people languish in this cage for far too long. It was time for something to be done about it.”_

She remembered how he had advanced towards her, taking slow steps with his hand raised up ready to cast a spell.

 _“You especially need to be taught a lesson,”_ he had told her, spreading his fingers out to begin the cast. _“Here. A gift for all of the times you have mocked me!”_

And with that statement, he had swept his hand out, no magic visibly being cast. But she had _felt_ it, oh she had. That invisible crushing force coming at her from all angles; she had fallen oven, uncomfortable and in pain.

And then it had stopped. And she had stood up, ready to retaliate and curse and mock Zant for his ridiculous behavior.

And she had had to look up – _way_ up – in order to look him in the eye.

Midna thought about how horrified she’d been when she’d realized that he’d cursed her; that he’d transformed her into a hideous, little imp, with a big head, long gangly arms, and short stubby legs. And covered in _fur_.

She remembered his cackle, and how it had followed her as he had chased her from the Twilight Realm, and into this strange world of light that he had shrouded in a strange artificial twilight.

 _At least I have my ancestors’ magic,_ Midna reminded herself, touching the strange magical helm that covered most of her face. She remembered how it had seemed to come to her in her hour of need when she had been taking a brief rest from fleeing from Zant and his – _puppets_.

And luck was still on her side too, apparently. Because the strange world that she had been sent to – the one that Zant had taken over – was _Hyrule_ ; the world that their ancestors had been banished from for wielding the darkest of magics.

And wouldn’t you know it, but the other shards of that power – the Fused Shadows – were still in this realm, ripe for her taking.

Now if she could just figure out a game plan that would be great.

But this land was strange and unfamiliar, and she didn’t even know where to start looking.

If only she had a guide. Someone who knew this place, and would be willing – or could be manipulated – to work with her. Or for her, optimally. She _was_ a princess after all. She didn't really do equal partnerships.

Then maybe Midna would be able to locate those in charge of this realm – who probably either knew or had access to the information that she was looking for. Or maybe she’d get lucky enough that her guide itself would know, and she could cut all that extra bullshit.

 _Like I would be_ that _lucky,_ she grumbled to herself.

But then she heard it. A long howl, from a beast of some sort. It sounded like a wolf or something.

 _Could it be? The Sacred Beast! Could I actually be that lucky?!_ And with that thought, Midna went flying towards the direction of the sound, weaving through trees, and roots, and rocks.

Finally, she caught up to the sound.

What she found wasn’t what she was expecting. Or really wanted to see, if she was being honest.

It was a wolf, but it wasn’t a full-grown one. Half-grown at most, not much bigger than a pup.

Not the Sacred Beast then. Of course, she would be so lucky.

But the creature had strange blue eyes that lit up in fear upon seeing her. And it had a strange symbol on its head.

It began to back away from her and looked like it would turn tail and run at any second.

She didn’t know if it was a normal wolf or not – though she was beginning to have her suspicions – so she opened her mind to the animal and attempted to establish a brief mind link.

Her suspicions were almost immediately rewarded.

She saw images of monsters taking up positions around a little hamlet in the woods, keeping the inhabitants under control by threats. She saw a portal appear high in the sky and those strange, cursed forms of her people advance on a spring, and then an explosion of light.

She saw a boy – just a few years younger than her – writhe on the ground on his hands and knees, and then suddenly scream and transform into the wolf standing in front of her.

A smile stretched on her lips as she exited the wolf’s – _cursed human’s_ – thoughts.

She had a plan now.

“I found you!” she exclaimed, floating closer to the wolfboy.

The little wolf backed away nervously, eyes glancing from side to side, looking for a way out.

 _You’re not going to get away from me that easily, wolfie,_ Midna thought, still grinning sharply. She moved closer to him.

The wolfboy began to growl at her advance, scared and defensive.

“Oh, is it going to be that way? Does the little human feel big and strong, snarling and glaring at the cute, defenseless little girl,” Midna felt disgusted at herself, referring to her current body as _cute_. But she needed to put on a show for the wolfboy.

And it was starting to work. She saw his body begin to relax and his eyes widen in confusion as he processed her words. He stopped growling.

_I have you now, little wolf._

Midna leaned in and laughed. “That’s better. You humans can be obedient to a fault huh?” She tapped the beast’s chin. “But you’re a wolf now, huh. Why could that be?”

The wolfboy lurched forward with a bark, not happy with being touched. She leapt back, giggling.

“Now, now. I was just talking. No need to bite.” Now, it was time to get him to help her. “Listen, wolfie,” she started. “I can help you get back you’re original form.” She couldn’t, she didn’t know how. But he didn't know that. “But I’m new to the area, and I need you’re help. I’m looking for something.” She floated closer to him, so that she was at his side. She looked down at him. “And you seem like a local, so I thought we could help each other out.”

The wolf’s eyes looked at her suspiciously, but after a few minutes of thought, the boy-turned-wolf nodded vigorously at her.

“Great!” she exclaimed happily. Then she flew high into the air laughing. The wolf boy looked around, confused by her abrupt disappearance.

It was then that she let herself gently fall. Straight onto his back.

The wolfboy immediately started trying to buck her off, whining all the while. She giggled and dug her legs firmly into his sides.

“Aw, little wolf,” she sang into his ear. “You can’t expect me to walk all over this place. I am a delicate maiden after all.” The beast gradually gave up trying to get her off of his back, but still turned his head back to look up and glare at her.

“I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship,” she said. She leaned in close to whisper into in his ear. “You can call me Midna.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midna and Wolfboy explore the woods, encounter a creepy boy and his puppets, and they encounter a mysterious temple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, wow... Wasn't sure if I'd continue this. I like had ideas for it, but I didn't have a clear direction where I wanted to go with this. Still don't, if I'm being honest. But I'm going to update this as I get inspiration for it, so expect updates whenever. I don't know when they're coming. I'm going to attempt to work on my other story next though, since I promised not to have another three and a half months between chapters if I could help it.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

It had been weeks.

At least, Midna hoped that it had been weeks. It was hard to tell with a never-changing sky and no way to tell the passage of time, after all.

But, the real problem was that they’d (she’d) made _absolutely no progress_.

Well, at least she wasn’t chewing on nuts anymore – it was _really_ handy having a carnivore with natural hunting capabilities. _That_ was a plus.

But the wolfboy didn’t seem to know the area as well as she had hoped. And so, the duo had spent the last however many days or weeks lost in a giant forest.

And Midna was on the end of her rope. Who knew what further nefarious activities Zant (that _asshole_ ) was getting up to in whatever time had passed? She only knew that he could only be making things worse.

And _she_ was stuck in the woods with a boy-turned-beast who seemed to be directionally challenged or something. And they could barely communicate.

Sure, he was pretty expressive for being not being able to talk and she had established the whole mind link situation, but she missed having an actual conversation and – though she absolutely hated to admit her magic was ever subpar – she hadn’t quite gotten the hang of telepathy yet. Her tutors had still been working on that – not to mention a few other things – when Zant had decided to steal her birthright and enslave their people.

Midna just wished that something would _happen_. Like, she didn’t know, coming across a castle or finding one of the Spirits of Light or something. She clenched her fist in the fur beneath her hand, causing the lump of wolf lying next to her to jerk up and yelp.

“Shut up,” she told him, “It’s time to get up and get moving anyway.” The wolfboy glared at her, but gave a great yawn and stood up slowly, nonetheless. Midna climbed on his back without any protest from her mount. He’d given that up a long time ago. You can’t fight a brick wall after all, and Midna’s stubbornness was legendary among the residents of the Palace of Twilight.

She gently patted the back of his neck in a gesture to move forward and they soon got to moving. Midna munched on some of the few remaining berries that they had found the day before while scavenging – they didn’t _always_ get lucky with game, unfortunately. The wolfboy was pretty useful for that too though. He seemed to know which plants were safe to eat and which weren’t.

They eventually came around a bend, and Midna began to notice something strange about her surroundings. What she had first assumed was a not easily climbable hill was looking to be a strange sort of wall or barrier instead.

Huh. How _suspicious_.

“Hey, you,” she nudged the wolfboy with her knee, getting his attention. He looked up at her with his big, blue eyes. “Follow that wall.”

After several minutes of hugging the barrier, the two came to a small hill – a _real_ hill this time – and Midna urged her companion up it. He quickly backed up and skidded to a halt however, and she was about to snap at him until she saw why.

There appeared to be a large gorge spanning from directly in front of the duo, to what appeared to be several miles forward.

Huh. How _even more_ suspicious. Something was definitely hidden around here.

She tugged at Wolfboy’s ear. “Listen,” she said, looking at all the clefts jutting out from the sides of the gorge, “It may look impassable, but I’ll help you get across. Just this once.”

And she did. Midna floated off to hover above each cleft using her hair as a glowing pink hand to further indicate that it was sure footing that he’d land on, and to grab him if she underestimated the distance.

And, gradually, after several minutes – maybe even an hour or two – the two had made their way across the large gorge. They both gave audible sighs of relief when the whole thing was over with.

Another several steps and a few turns later and the imp and wolf came to an old, wooden, man-made bridge. _I love it when I’m right,_ Midna thought smugly.

After crossing another wooden bridge and jumping a few more smaller gaps, the duo came to the mouth of a cave. Midna nudged her mount forward, and he entered the cave, reluctantly.

The moment they entered, Midna could _taste_ the magic in the air. It sent a _Zing!_ up her spine; so unlike the calmness of the shadowy magic in her realm. This had to be light magic. But how could any such magic fester in the palls of darkness now covering this world?

Midna shook her head. _Less thinking, more investigating,_ she told herself. They continued on their way.

The two emerged into a strange, beautiful grove, that still managed to look bright and blooming even under the cover of eternal twilight. She would have continued to gaze in awe at the place, but that was when _it_ appeared.

_It_ was a strange creature that almost looked like it might’ve come from the Twilight Realm – with its strange bluish-gray face and bright orange eyes – but Midna had never seen anything like it. It was garbed in a strange leafy brown outfit with a tall, pointed cap. The Thing was holding a large, odd looking horn, and a lantern that made the half-light around them dance oddly. It was also grinning – a large, mischievous thing that promised something awful for whomever it was directed at.

It raised up the large horn that it was holding and blew. Loudly. Midna had to cover her ears from the intensity. When she removed them, she heard the sound of sticks clacking together. She turned her attention back to the Thing.

She wished she hadn’t.

Disturbing, strange wooden creatures with red eyes, and crooked haunting grins advanced towards her and her mount, gliding over the ground incongruously and twitching all the while.

They were some of the most unsettling things she’d ever seen.

Midna urged her wolf to run from the creatures, and he did so with very little prompting.

Soon enough they were playing a game of chase with the “puppets” – Midna decided to call them – and losing, badly. But then the Thing landed in front of them.

“You’re playing it wrong,” it stated, in a high voice that echoed around the strange wood.

“What?” Midna demanded.

“You’re playing it wrong,” it repeated, “We’re supposed to be playing tag, and I started it, so I’m It.” And with that it ran off, giggling. Its puppets were close behind.

Midna grumbled but prompted the wolf to follow the strange creatures, this time with ample protesting. She didn’t care though. That little shit was up to something, and she wanted to know what.

After what felt like hours of chasing and almost catching the Thing and its puppets, they finally emerged into an open area that look like the ruins of a town square of some sort. _Huh,_ Midna thought. _This place gets even more interesting the deeper we go._

The Thing giggled again, gave a little spin, and blew Its horn again. More puppets dropped down from nowhere and made a beeline for the duo.

The wolf dodged all of them, only focused on getting to the Thing. And, after a little more cat-and-mouse with it, he finally caught it.

Little Wolfboy bit down on its arm. _Hard_.

The Thing was screeching.

“Lemme go! Lemme go!” it was whining. “Okay, okay. You won. Tell you what. If you let me go, I’ll show ya somewhere cool!” Its grin widened, if at all possible.

Wolfboy reluctantly dropped the arm he was holding, and the thing took that as Its cue to launch itself into the sky.

“You idiot!” Midna smacked the wolf on the nose, lightly. He whined. “You let It get away!”

But just as she declared that, the Thing glided back down to the ground. It started running off in another direction.

“After it!” Midna commanded, and the two took off.

Midna thought that they’d almost had it again when it vanished around a corner. When they reached the spot where it had disappeared, they came upon yet another open area. This one looked like the ruins of some sort of large church of some sort. There was even an alter with three glittering gems sat atop it. A brilliant emerald, gorgeous ruby, and magnificent sapphire, all cut into different, but no less elegant, shapes. They headed over to the stones.

There were strange faded engravings on the stone of the alter, written underneath the gemstones. Midna couldn’t read it, but it appeared that Wolfboy could, as he stared intently at the symbols, and his eyes followed them from left to right. Then he did something odd.

He sat down and started howling.

It was a strange, haunting tune, Midna thought. It felt like something both ancient and new at once, and seemed to get more mysterious with each new note Wolfboy sang. And then something even weirder happened.

The stones began to shine and spin around. The wolf had stopped howling, but she swore that she could still hear the song. And a sealed door that she hadn’t noticed before began to open.

Then everything abruptly halted. The stones topped, the song faded, and the door stayed open. Midna nudged the wolf towards it.

_I wonder what they’re hiding here…_ Midna mused as they crossed the short hall that connected the alter room to whatever was on the other side.

But then there was a flash of light, and everything changed.


End file.
